Scanning the crowd, he spotted Marcus at the back of a line of press, a vibrant redhead by his side, and then questions flooded the air.
‘Stefan, how does it feel to be back?’
‘When are you meeting Frederick?’
‘Holly, how did the two of you meet?’
‘When is the wedding? What about the will?’
‘Why have you come back?’
The barrage pumped his adrenaline as he worded his answers, strove for balance, aware that each answer needed to be closed against misinterpretation and twist.
‘Overwhelming...in a good way... As soon as possible, but I’d like our first meeting to be in private...’
Holly’s turn, and she didn’t even flinch.
‘I moved to London for a couple of years and curiosity overcame me—I wanted to know more about the exiled Prince, and once I got to know him better I wanted to bring him home.’
Holly again.
‘I’m sure you’ve all heard rumours about Count Roberto’s will and its connection with us—we will explain it, but in an official interview.’
Marcus stepped forward. ‘Time to break it up now, guys. I promise you’ll have a chance to ask more questions in the next few days. Contact my office for the official schedule, if you haven’t already.’
‘Hold on,’ Stefan interrupted. ‘I think there was one more question. Someone asked why I’ve come back, and I’d like to answer that. I’ve come back because Lycander is part of my heritage. It’s the place where I was born and where I grew up—it is the place that helped make me who I am today.’
With that, and with Holly’s hand still firmly clasped in his, he followed Marcus and April towards a dark chauffeured car.
Once inside the spacious interior, Marcus leant forward. ‘Did you mean that last answer?’
‘Does it matter?’
‘No. I was just curious.’ The Chief Advisor sat back. Turning, he looked at his wife and smiled, his whole face transformed with warmth. ‘April will take you to your hotel now.’
‘Yup. Ostensibly I’m doing an interview for my old magazine,’ April explained. ‘But I’ll also be coaching you, checking you can pull this off.’
Stefan glanced at Holly, relieved that she had gone through their story in such detail. ‘Sounds like a plan.’
Within minutes the car pulled up and Marcus nodded. ‘This is my stop. I’ll see you both tomorrow, for the first round of official visits.’
Soon the car pulled up again, outside a charming hotel-front, and Stefan inwardly applauded Marcus’s choice—expensive without being in-your-face luxurious, just the right backdrop for a younger brother who didn’t wish to upstage Lycander’s ruler. The hotel had an olde-worlde charm—it was a converted chateau, complete with ancient stone walls, a paved courtyard and iron balconies.
They all climbed out, and there loomed the might of the palace in the middle distance. More memories crowded in—flash images of times he would rather forget. The enforced physical regime, the pain as he forced his trembling muscles into yet another push-up, another hoist of weights. Knowing if he missed his target by even a single rep there would be no food. And, worse, that it would be even longer until he saw his mother again.
His father’s voice.
‘You’ll thank me for this one day, Stefan. You’ll be a tougher man than me, a better prince. Tough enough so you won’t fall prey to the stupidity of love. It never lasts. It never lives up to what you expect it to be. And it makes you weak. Look at your mother. Her life is miserable because she won’t give you up. I would have given her wealth, prestige, but she wouldn’t take it. Look at you—you show your weakness by your refusal to give her up. Your love for each other gives me the power, gives me the control.’
His father’s words seemed to float towards him on the breeze, echoing in his ears, and he realised that April was staring at him. But before the red-haired woman could say anything Holly had launched into a series of questions about the forthcoming interviews and photographs, about whether April would be covering the wedding.
They were questions that politeness forced April to respond to, giving him time to recover. This had to stop; he would not let his father control him from the grave.
‘OK. Follow me,’ April said. ‘Franco will bring in your luggage. I’
ve booked a room where we can chat in private and set it up to look like your television interview will.’
Minutes later they were ensconced in a meeting room. April sat herself on a comfortable leather chair and gestured for them to sit on a small sofa.